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Wife, quoth the miller, fetch me forth Lightfoot,
That we of his sweetness a little may tafte:
A fair venifon pafty, then brought the forth presently;
Eat, quoth the miller; but, fir, make no waste.
Here's dainty lightfoot, in faith, faid our king;
I never before eat fo dainty a thing.

I wis, faid Richard, no dainty at all it is,

For we do eat of it every day.

In what place, faid our king, may be bought like to this?
We never pay penny for it, by my fay :

From merry Sherwood we fetch it home here;
Now and then we make bold with our kings deer.

Then I think, faid our king, that it is venifon.

Each fool, quoth Richard, full well may fee that:
Never are we without two or three under the roof,
Very well fiefhed, and excellent fat:

But, pray thee, fay nothing where'er thou doft go;
We would not, for two-pence, the king should it know.

Doubt not, then faid our king, my promis'd fecrecy;
The king fhall never know more on't for me.

A

cup

of lambswool they drank unto him then, And to their beds they pafs'd presently.

The nobles, next morning, went all up and down,
For to feek out the king, in every town.

At

At laft, at the millers houfe, foon they efpied him plain,
As he was mounting upon his fair steed ;

To whom they came presently, falling down on their knees;
Which made the millers heart woefully bleed :
Shaking and quaking before him he stood,
Thinking he should have been hang'd by the rood.

The king perceiving him fearful and trembling,
Drew forth his fword, but nothing he said:
The miller down did fall, crying before them all,
Doubting the king would have cut off his head:
But his kind courtesy there to requite,

Gave him a living and made him a knight.

THE

SECOND

PART.

When as our royal king came home from Nottingham,
And with his nobles at Westminster lay;
Recounting the sports and paftimes they had ta'en,
In this late progrefs along by the way;
Of them all, great and small, he did protest,
The miller of Mansfields fport liked him best.

And now, my lords, quoth the king, I am determined
Against Saint Georges next fumptuous feast,

That this old miller, our laft confirmed knight,

With his fon Richard, shall both be my guest :

For, in this merriment, 'tis my defire,

To talk with the jolly knight, and the brave fquire.

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When as the noblemen faw the kings pleasantnefs,
They were right joyful and glad in their hearts;
A purfuivant there was fent ftraight on the business,
The which had many times been in those parts.
When he came to the place where he did dwell,
His meffage orderly then he did tell,

God fave your worship, then faid the meffenger,
And grant your lady her hearts defire,

And to your fon Richard good fortune and happiness,
That sweet young gentleman, and gallant young fquire.

Our king greets you all, and thus doth fay,

You must come to the court on Saint Georges day.

Therefor, in any cafe, fail not to be in place.
I wis, quoth the miller, this is an odd jeft:

What should we do there? he faid: faith, I am half afraid,
I doubt, quoth Richard, be hang'd at the leaft.

Nay, quoth the meffenger, you do mistake;
Our king he prepares a great feaft for your fake.

Then faid the miller, Now by my troth, meffenger,
Thou haft contented my worship full well.

Hold, here's three farthings, to quit thy great gentleness,
For thefe happy tidings which thou doft me tell.
Let me fee, hear'ft thou me ? tell to our king,

We'll wait on his mastership in every thing.

The

The pursuivant smiled at their fimplicity,
And, making many legs, took their reward:
And, taking then his leave with great humility,
To the kings court again he repair'd;
Shewing unto his grace, in each degree,
The knights moft liberal gift and bounty.

When as he was gone away, thus did the miller fay:

Here comes expences and charges indeed

;

Now we must needs be brave, though we spend all we have;

For of new garments we have great need :

Of horses and serving-men we must have store,
With bridles and faddles, and twenty things more.

Tufh, fir John, quoth his wife, neither do fret nor frown;

You fhall be at no more charges for me,

For I will turn and trim up my old ruffet gown,
With every thing as fine as may be ;
And on our mill-horfes full fwift we will ride,
With pillows and pannels as we shall provide.

In this most stately fort, rode they unto the court,
Their jolly fon Richard foremost of all;

Who fet up, by good hap, a cocks feather in his cap;
And fo they jetted down towards the kings hall:
The merry old miller, with his hand on his fide;
His wife, like maid Marian, did mince at that tide.

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The king and his nobles, that heard of their coming,

Meeting this gallant knight, with his brave train; Welcome, fir knight, quoth he, with this your gay lady;

Good fir John Cockle, once welcome again :
And fo is the fquire, of courage so free.
Quoth Dick, A bots on you; do you know me?

Quoth our king gently, How fhould I forget thee? Thou waft mine own bed fellow, well that I wot. "But I do think on a trick."-Tell me that, prithee Dick. "How we with farting did make the bed hot." Thou whorefon, happy knave, then quoth the knight, Speak cleanly to our king, or elfe go fhite.

The king and his counsellors heartily laugh'd at this,
While the king took them both by the hand;

With ladies and their maids, like to the Queen of Spades,
The millers wife did fo orderly ftand:

A milk maids curtesy at every word;
And down the folks were fet at the fide-board:

Where the king royally, in princely majesty,
Sate at his dinner with joy and delight :

When he had eaten well, to jefting then 'he' fell,
Taking a bowl of wine, drank to the knight :
Here's to you both, he said, in wine, ale and beer;
Thanking you all for your country cheer.

Quoth

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